MEDIEVAL MOUNT

1400

A copper alloy mount from a medieval hanging bowl or laver. The mount is in the form of a dog's head and neck. The head resembles 14th/15th century spouts which sometimes show a dog's head at the front. Although quite corroded, one can still see the snout, eyes and ears of the dog. On the back it has a deep circular hollow which was for the attachment of a handle, and the break at the neck is where the head would have been soldered to the side of the vessel. Finds of mounts are not uncommon since the mount represents the laver’s greatest point of weakness and thus is most vulnerable to being broken. For example there is an antiquarian find from North Hill, Colchester and a very similar mount discovered in Norfolk in 2000 (Acc. No. 1938.99; Val Fryer, pers comm). A virtually complete laver with female head mounts is in the collections of the British Museum (Cat. No. MME 1956, 7-2,1). This was made in England or France in the 15th century and is said to have been found in County Tipperary, Ireland. Representations of lavers occur in medieval art including, for example, in the background of the central panel of the Altarpiece of the Annunciation painted by Robert Campion of Tournai around 1425 (Young, B. & Varon, M. 2000. A Walk through the Cloisters, page 124).